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Tag: Texas Realtors

HomeLight’s newest acquisition will allow it to lend in Texas, we have second-quarter housing reports from Texas Realtors, and pending home sales are up for the second month, all in this week’s roundup of real estate news.

HomeLight Acquisition Spurs Lending Expansion Into Texas

With its purchase of digital mortgage lender Eave, agent-referral site HomeLight can now offer loans to home buyers in six states, including Texas, Inman reported.

HomeLight takes buyer or seller preferences and compares them with agents, basing their matches on benchmarks like the time it takes an agent to sell a home, the average difference between list price and sales price (as well as how often they do price reductions), and more. They also factor in an agent’s past responsiveness to HomeLight referrals, as well as reviews. (more…)

Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center is home to two top 20 Best High Schools, according to U.S. News & World Report (photo courtesy Dallas ISD).

Two Dallas ISD schools make a national list of best high schools, the 2019 Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report​ is out, and we take a look at how the state housing market fared in March, all in this week’s roundup of real estate news.

Two Dallas ISD High Schools Ranked in Top 20 Nationally

The School of Science and Engineering (SEM) and the School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG) both made the top 20 in the most recent rankings of best high schools conducted by U.S. News & World Report. Both schools are located at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, and were ranked 12th and 16th respectively.

This year, Texas led all states, with three schools in the top 20 — and two of them from Dallas ISD.(more…)

What was the final verdict on home sales and home prices in DFW last year? What kind of profit did home sellers get? And how did Texas fare when it came to a ranking of the quality of life in state capitals?

Texas welcomed 524,511 new residents in 2017, and 230,118 of them found homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, the latest Texas Relocation Report from Texas REALTORS® revealed.

The report, which was released on Valentine’s Day, analyzed migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U-Haul, found that Texas ranked second in the nation for relocation activity in 2017, and the DFW area was the spot most people relocated to.

“Texas remained a hotbed of relocation activity in 2017 due in part to our diverse job opportunities, record-breaking housing market and booming economy,” Tray Bates, 2019 chairman of Texas REALTORS®, said in a statement. “This is the fifth year in a row that Texas has gained more than 500,000 new residents from out of state and we anticipate that trend will continue in the coming years.”(more…)

“Texas’ economic prosperity continues to make luxury home sales one of the strongest sectors of the Texas housing market, particularly in the $1 million to $1.5 million range,” said Leslie Rouda Smith, luxury Realtor with Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate and chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. “In some neighborhoods, the lot alone is well worth $1 million and up.”

Ain’t that the truth! Dallas dirt is getting tremendously expensive, especially in the custom homebuilding market. Buyers and clients should expect the lot purchase to take up a greater share of the budget from now on as land is growing more scarce.

Homes are flying off the market, often before a sign is put in the yard. Still, Texas metro areas could experience a slower market toward the end of this year.

Corrected figures from the National Association of Realtors show that Dallas home sales have increased 1.82 percent in the first quarter of 2015 while median price grew 11.99 percent.

Statewide figures show a strong start to 2015 for Texas home sales, with a year-over-year increase of 4.16 percent. Inventory is still an issue, with available homes dropping to an all-time-low of just 3.1 months, which is less than half the supply required for a balanced housing market. That’s a precipitous 8.82 percent decline from the first quarter of 2014. More detailed figures are available through the Texas Association of Realtors.

“Homes are being built as quickly as possible, yet most are not in the price range where inventory is needed most – the entry-level market,” explained economist Jim Gaines of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “Interest rates are still low, but tight lending standards, rising home prices, and slim inventory have created a tough market for first-time homebuyers.”

“Texas is one of the best states to buy a home in the U.S. because it’s one of the best places to work, do business and raise a family. Our state’s lasting job and economic growth continues to bring higher incomes for Texas families and reaffirms new home sales and development as a critical component in meeting market demand,” said Scott Kesner, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors.

And TAR’s 2015 Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report backs up Kesner’s optimism. The median household income of homebuyers in the great state shot up 5.9 percent between July 2013 to June 2014 to $97,500. That’s a much more substantial increase than the national median household income among homebuyers, which increased only 1.4 percent to $84,500.

So, who is buying Texas dirt, and what are they buying? Find out at the jump!

During the course of the year, spring and summer tend to be the hottest seasons for home sales, with the pace of closings slowing as fall takes hold and school starts. That’s not what happened in Texas during the third quarter of 2014, says the Texas Association of Realtors Quarterly Housing Report, which was released just now. Additionally, inventory increased this quarter each month, continuing to fuel brisk sales in some areas.

In Dallas, though, sales are down year-over-year by 2.36 percent, while median home prices are up 8.73 percent and inventory is down precipitously from Q3 2013 by 10.71 percent. Logic says that, until inventory increases, home prices will continue to increase and sales will continue their slow, downward trend. Still, some areas are seeing increases (Midway Hollow, Lakewood, Lake Highlands, West Kessler) while some areas and price ranges remain sluggish. All real estate is local, y’all!

“The third quarter of the year is typically a much slower sales period – summer is over, school has started and families are staying put for the upcoming holiday season. That was not the case this year,” said TAR chairman Dan Hatfield. “Texas home sales continue to slightly exceed last year’s levels. If this trend continues, 2014 will surpass 2013 to become the second-best year ever for Texas real estate.”